An integrated circuit layout is the representation of one or more integrated circuits in terms of planar geometric shapes which correspond to the patterns of metal, oxide, or semiconductor layers that form components of the integrated circuit. These integrated circuit layouts are translated by integrated circuit designers into an industry standard format, which is thereafter sent to a semiconductor foundry for manufacture onto the semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor foundry tailors its photolithographic process for fabrication using the integrated circuit layouts to fabricate the one or more integrated circuits onto the semiconductor substrate.
The various processes used by the semiconductor foundry to fabricate the one or more integrated circuits onto the semiconductor substrate include deposition, removal, patterning, and modification. The deposition is a process used by the semiconductor foundry to grow, coat, or otherwise transfer a material onto the semiconductor substrate and can include physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), electrochemical deposition (ECD), and/or molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to provide some examples. The removal is a process used by the semiconductor foundry to remove material from the semiconductor substrate and can include wet etching, dry etching, and/or chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) to provide some examples. The patterning, often referred to as lithography, is a process used by the semiconductor foundry to shape or alter material of the semiconductor substrate to form the planar geometric shapes of the integrated circuit. The modification of electrical properties is a process used by the semiconductor foundry to shape or alter physical, electrical, and/or chemical properties of material of the semiconductor substrate, typically, by ion implantation. The semiconductor substrate used to fabricate the one or more integrated circuits is typically part of a semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor foundry can fabricate multiple of the one or more integrated circuits as well as other integrated circuits onto the semiconductor wafer.